Feeling a little stuck? Confused as to where your narrative is going? Not sure what to do next? Not sure which door to open?
Take out a notebook, pad, or paper and something to write with. Give yourself thirty minutes. Write down a list of ten possible futures for yourself. Don’t get too fancy – a few sentences on each one will do. Go as far as you want into the future – be as abstract or specific as you want. Use magical realism, surrealism, win the lottery and decide what to do with the money, use a time machine. The laws of physics and nations do not apply.
The first three will probably be quite easy to come up with. Don’t forget you’ve given yourself a time limit so keep going! You won’t think you can come up with ten, but you can.
I did this exercise and although my list was interesting, it wasn’t compelling. But the next day, I woke up with #11, which is compelling, daunting, and most importantly, fitting. Sometimes we have to clear our own clutter of expectations and pressures to get to what is profoundly tempting and motivating.
Let me know how it goes!
BONUS: If you are a writer, you can try this exercise for individual characters in your story or for your whole narrative!
A reminder that anything is possible:
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